I shut down my company this week. It was a bittersweet few days as I packed, stacked, and loaded pallets for shipping products to the new distributor's warehouse. I had worked pretty stinking hard for four years to build the company in North and South America. And, while I could have easily continued importing and distributing the products, I realized that my heart wasn't in it. I enjoyed meeting people, working to solve problems, and fill their product needs. But I really didn't like the crazy amount of time spent working on bookkeeping, invoicing, bill-paying, taxes, packing orders, cleaning the warehouse, and crazy phone hours (the manufacturer's HQ is in Australia - making the middle of my night the middle of their day). In the end, it was better to drop the distributorship and pass it on to a company already set up for that type of work. All in all, I learned a lot, made some great friends, and had some pretty amazing travel experiences. I wouldn't do it all again in the same way if I had to do it over, but I'd certainly take another stab at this type of business in the future - note to self - Use a fulfillment company next time around.
To take the stresses associated with business away, I've been increasing my mileage on runs lately. Running at this time of year, though, has been an odd mixture of indoor/outdoor. I had my friend Joe in town from LA last weekend, and we ran a 6.2 mi loop that was alternately freezing cold and sweat-inducing. Joe, a native Kansan, hung in there pretty well. But afterward he confessed that he doesn't hit the kinds of wind we ran through on his daily runs through the Hollywood Hills. That night I went out and bought some cheap running tights which breathe a bit better than the sweat pants I had been running in during cold snaps. I'll be trying those out this afternoon when the temp is supposed to be in the upper 40s.
With very few outdoor running days, I've been sticking to the dreaded treadmill. I hate running on treadmills, although you wouldn't guess it by how often I seem to do it. But they (treadmills) are a necessary evil when you live in the central or northern flyover states. At least the treadmills in the Lawrence, KS Community Building (one of three great public athletic centers in town) face out through a large plate-glass window onto a basketball court. So there is something to watch while your legs move quickly taking you nowhere. Most of the hotels I stay in have workout rooms with either a blank wall to look at, or a tv tuned to a program I'd never watch, with treadmills outfitted with inoperative headphone jacks. In most treadmill cases, I take my MP3 player and just listen to NPR or random songs while I run. I do pretty well, but I absolutely hate having every calorie, tenth of a mile, second, and watt (whatever the hell that is) constantly flashing in front of me when I run. It is soul-sucking, and takes the joy out of the experience.
Enough for now. I'll have a bit more to write about rolfing next week when we start work on my mouth and nose.
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